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The 2016 Mini Convertible is an all-new version of the UK's best-selling soft-top

Mini wheeled out an original 1993 Cooper Cabriolet at the launch of the all-new 2016 model. It speaks volumes about the popularity or lack thereof of the old-timer that not even the powerhouse that is BMW could find one without tears in its seats; just 1,000 or so such cars were sold in the three-year production run.

Mini Convertibles produced under BMW ownership have been somewhat more popular, with the first two generations finding more than 320,000 homes since 2004. BMW also boasts that it’s the best-selling convertible in the UK, with an audience that is about 70 per cent female and spans from young and hip, to hip replacement (I’m paraphrasing that last bit). Put another way, the arrival of this all-new version is a big deal.

The Mini Convertible is available with one diesel and three petrol engines

It’s also fairly late to the party when you consider that the hatchback on which it is based has been around since 2014. Here it is, though, looking much like its predecessor, but with swollen bodywork that takes it yet another step away from being anything that could credibly be described as mini. The Convertible also needed a lot of additional aluminium and steel body bracing to make up for the loss of the fixed roof, which adds 115kg compared with the hatchback.

Still, Mini these days is as much a byword for affordable luxury and endless personalisation as it is with being small and light, so let’s not give the newcomer too much of a hard time for having piled on the pounds. Speaking of which, it's piled on the other kind of pounds too, carrying a £3,600 premium over the hatch.

The extra size also means more space, both in the boot (which swells by 25 per cent) and the rear seats, which are just about big enough to squeeze a couple of adults into, even if the backrests are rather upright. In addition, you can fold the rear seat backs down to increase luggage space.

Lowering the roof is an all-electric operation that takes 18 seconds and can be carried out at speeds of up to 19mph. It operates in two stages, giving either a sunroof or concertinaing completely, at which point it looks like a folded pram top.

The Convertible's dash is the same as the Mini hatchback's

Due to capacity restrictions at Mini’s Cowley factory in Oxford, the Convertible is built in the Netherlands. As with the hatchback, petrol and diesel engines are available, ranging from a 1.6-litre diesel that averaged 69mpg in official EU fuel tests to a 2.0-litre turbo John Cooper Works petrol model that scampers from 0-60mph in 6.6 seconds. Most people, though, are predicted to opt for the 1.5-litre petrol Cooper, which returned 53mpg, does the benchmark sprint in 8.7 seconds and costs from £18,475.

For our first test of the car in Los Angeles, Mini laid on the 2.0-litre turbocharged Cooper S, for which the stats read 49mpg and 7.1 seconds for a price that starts at £22,430 for the manual or £24,055 for the six-speed automatic.

The dashboard mirrors that of the hatchback, and will thus be equally as divisive, with one person’s funky being another’s fussy. The ergonomics are a bit haphazard, but it's hard to fault the quality.

The engine starts via a toggle switch and idles sweetly, but within less than 100 metres the Mini’s lack of structural integrity begins to reveal itself, its windows emitting an occasional rattle and the rear view mirror tremoring as the 17-inch wheels hit bumps in the road.

The sensation becomes more pronounced the faster you go until even the steering column is shaking; over the bumps and thumps of the Hollywood Hills, the Mini wobbled like an A-lister’s career.

It’s at this point, just when you’re about to write off the Convertible as no better than its predecessors, that the road becomes smoother and the hairpins more frequent, and with it so the Mini starts to shine. With no bumps to fire confusion through the car’s structure the Convertible starts to feel more like, well, a Mini, with fast, well-weighted steering, a grippy front end and a wonderful power delivery that has the front wheels scrabbling for grip and delivering performance in a way that makes you grin from ear to ear.

Having so much fun, you’ll reach for Sport mode, at which point a message flashes up on the central screen saying “Let’s Motor Hard!”, which is enough to make you switch back to normal. Good thing, too, for the added urgency of the power delivery isn’t enough to justify how much the adaptive dampers (optional, but present on all of the test cars) ramp up in firmness, or for the exhaust’s pops and bangs, which make it sound like there’s somebody trapped in the boot. In reality of course that would be impossible because the boot opening itself is tiny, and having the roof down necessitates losing about 15 per cent of the load volume.

The Mini is the UK's best selling convertible

There are other faults to be picked with the Mini, too, such as the fact that the wind deflector has to be clipped in manually and turns the car into a two-seater, and the rear visibility, which is so bad that Mini fits all models with a reversing camera.

On the flip side, the engine is terrific, the manual and automatic gearboxes both work well, you don't feel much wind buffeting with the roof down and the personalisation options are better than ever; you can even have a Union Jack woven into the fabric roof.

For the money, a Mazda MX-5 is a much better soft-top, but equally it’s not hard to see where the appeal of the Mini lies. Despite some wibbly-wobbly tendencies, it is sure to do very well indeed.

Verdict: Can feel a bit wobbly over harsh surfaces, and while the boot is bigger than before access is still tricky. Great fun on a smooth road, though, and with more than enough style to appeal to its target audience.

Telegraph rating: Three out of five stars

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